In this section

52. THE PRIORY OF KIRKHAM

The Augustinian priory of Kirkham was
founded about 1130, (fn. 1) and was the earliest of the
three religious houses which owed their existence
to Walter Espec. In his foundation charter, (fn. 2)
addressed to Archbishop Thurstan and Geoffrey,
Bishop of Durham, Walter Espec records that he
had given to God and the church of the Holy
Trinity of Kirkham, and to the canons serving
God there, the whole manor of Kirkham, with
the parish church and the churches of Helmsley,
Garton, and Kirby Grindalythe, and other
property, including (in Northumberland) the
whole vill of Carham-on-Tweed, a mansura at
Wark, the whole vill of Titlington, and the
churches of Ilderton and Newton-in-Glendale
(now known as Kirknewton). As Thurstan
and Geoffrey were contemporaries in the sees of
York and Durham from 1133 to 1139, the date
of this charter is definitely fixed between those
years.

There is no reference to any son or child of
the founder, (fn. 3) and no suggestion whatever in support of the legend that Walter Espec was led to
found Kirkham and his two other monasteries of
Rievaulx and Warden out of grief at the loss of
his only son by an accident. That story is told
with such definiteness of detail in a chartulary
of Rievaulx, that, were it not incidentally negatived by the silence of all contemporary accounts,
including the foundation charters of the monasteries in question, it would almost carry a conviction of truth with it. The legend, as told in
the chartulary under the heading 'Fundatio
monasteriorum de Kyrkham Ryevalx et Warden,
&c.', (fn. 4) is that Walter Espec, miles strenuus, married,
when quite young, a certain Adelina, who bore
him a son named Walter. The son was a handsome youth, and greatly devoted to riding swift
horses. One day, mounting and urging his steed
beyond control, it stumbled against a small stone
cross at Frithby and threw him, breaking his
neck. The father, inconsolable at his bereavement, consulted his uncle William, then rector
of Garton, at whose advice he made Christ his
heir, founding three monasteries at Kirkham,
Rievaulx, and Warden, appointing his uncle
William, who had received monastic instruction
in the house of St. Oswald, Nostell, the first
Prior of Kirkham, which he endowed to the
extent of 1,300 marks a year. (fn. 5) Of the founder
himself a vivid picture has been drawn by Aelred,
the third Abbot of Rievaulx, in his account of the
battle of the Standard. (fn. 6) He describes Walter
Espec as at that time an old man, full of days, of
quick wit, foreseeing in counsel, sober-minded in
peace, wary in war, always keeping friendship
with his companions, and faith with kings; a
tall, big man with black hair, a full beard, an
open and free countenance, with large and keensighted eyes, and a voice like a trumpet. Noble
in the flesh, Aelred says, but nobler far for his
Christian piety.

The most important incident in the early history of Kirkham is undoubtedly the proposed
cession to the abbey of Rievaulx of Kirkham
itself, and a considerable amount of its property,
on the condition that the patron gave other lands
to the canons in lieu of those which were to pass
to Rievaulx. The proposal never took effect.
The document in the Rievaulx Chartulary(fn. 7) is
headed Cyrographum inter nos [Rievallenses] et
Kirkham. It begins: 'These are the things
which we have conceded and given to the monks
of "Rievalle," for the love of God, and the wellbeing of our souls, for peace, and the honour of
our prior, and at the will and desire of our
patron.' They are enumerated as 'Kirkham
with the church and our buildings, and our
garths, gardens, and mills, and everything in
that place except one barn . . ., Whitwell, and
Westow, and 4 carucates in Thixendale (those 4,
to wit, which our patron hitherto holds in his
possession), and a wagon, and 100 sheep of our
stock,' and then follows the condition under
which the concession had been made, viz., 'that
our patron shall give us all Linton and "Hwersletorp" with all the appurtenances belonging to
the same vill.' The chirograph then proceeds:
'And our prior and his assistants shall build us a
church, chapter-house, dormitory, refectory, and
other houses of sufficient size, as an infirmary,
cellar, hospice, bake-house, stable, granary, barn,
and establish a good mill there, if possible, at the
least cost; the church to be covered with shingle,
and the claustral offices thatched. The charters
and evidences of Linton, and of all our possessions, shall be acquired by us. . . . Be it known.
also that we shall retain with the church of
Westow the carucate of land belonging to it, and
the monks shall pay us tithes of land they may
cultivate in that parish, in Whitwell, and in the
demesne lands of our patron. . . . . All our
moveables, when we leave Kirkham we shall
take away, that is to say crosses, chalices, books,
robes, and all church ornaments, including stained
glass windows, (fn. 8) for which we will make them
white ones. One bell shall remain for them
according to our choice. Vessels, and utensils,
and necessary articles, whether at Kirkham, or
Whitwell, it shall be lawful for us to take
away. This, however, is to be known, that we
will not depart from our place, or lose our prior,
until the things agreed between us are accomplished. If perchance within a year we shall
have changed our place, the property and rents
of our church, as they now are, shall for the
whole year be in our hands and possession, for
the acquittance of our debts. In like manner
the property and rents of Linton shall be in the
hands of the monks, for constructing our buildings. . . . Be it known also, that all the canons
and brothers of Kirkham now living shall have
the same position in the Cistercian chapter and
order as monks of that order.'

There are several points to be noted. In the
first place the concession is spoken of in the past
tense—'we have conceded and given ' (concessimus
et donavimus), which implies that the interchange
was very near actual accomplishment, and can
only have fallen through because some or all of
the conditions were not fulfilled. Then the
advocatus noster—our patron—must allude to
Walter Espec himself, and not, as Mr. Walbran
has surmised, Lord de Ros (fn. 9); but the chief
point is, what did the chirograph imply, and what
would have taken place if its conditions had been
carried out? A clue seems to be given in the
final clause that each canon and brother was to
have a like standing in the Cistercian chapter
and order. This can hardly mean anything else
than that it was proposed to hand over Kirkham
to Rievaulx, perhaps as a cell, or at any rate as a
Cistercian house, and that those canons and
brothers of the Augustinian order who became
Cistercians were to have the same position they
held reserved to them as monks; while it looks as
if a new house at Linton was to be established,
where we may suppose that the dissentient canons
of Kirkham would be formed into an Augustinian
monastery. It must not be forgotten that Walter
Espec became a Cistercian monk himself, and he
may have wished that his three houses should all
be of the Cistercian order.

In 1203 (fn. 10) Innocent III ordered that persons
presented to the Archbishop of York for institution by the Prior and convent of Kirkham should
be admitted to their churches. There had evidently been some obstruction on the part of the
archbishop, but its nature, or the ground on
which it had been based, is not known.

Gregory IX decided, in 1240, (fn. 11) on behalf of
the Prior and convent of Kirkham, that the
acquisitions of lands made by the Cistercians within
the parishes belonging to Kirkham were not in
any way to prejudice their right to the tithes.

In 1253, (fn. 12) when the chapel in the castle of
Helmsley was dedicated by the Bishop of
Whithern, the prior and convent protested against
it as an infringement of the rights of their church
of Helmsley, given them by their founder. Archbishop Giffard, on 19 May 1269, (fn. 13) commissioned
Magr. Philip de Staunton, if he saw fit on visiting
Kirkham, to receive the resignation of the prior,
which the archbishop had deferred doing. The
prior, who had pleaded his feeble state, was
probably Hugh de Beverley, mentioned as prior in
1268.

On 4 February 1279-80 (fn. 14) Archbishop Wickwane held a visitation, and issued a series of
injunctions. In the first place he ordered that
laymen and outsiders were on no account to enter
the infirmary, except doctors and others whose
duty was to look after the sick. The prior and
sub-prior were several times in the year to have
the carols of the canons in the cloister and elsewhere opened in their presence and their contents shown to them. No one was to accept
garments (indumenta) or other things, as the gift
of any person, without the special leave of the
president, and then such were to be delivered,
not to the recipient, but wisely and discreetly by
the president to some one else. Fools, low
buffoons, and tramps were firmly forbidden access
to the refectory. The sick were to be properly
tended. None of the canons were in future to
go to the infirmary to warm themselves. The
alms, were to be given to the poor, and not to the
stipendiaries of the house, as had hitherto been
done. No eatables were to be transferred elsewhere from the refectory.

The prior was enjoined to correct the excesses
of his brethren more often and quickly. The
doors were to be better guarded from the access
of useless and unworthy persons. The canons
and conversi were to be distinguished according to
the due requirement of their grade, and juniors
were not to be placed over their betters. Becoming equality in necessary matters according
to the rule was to be observed towards everyone.

The servitors and attendants of the house were
not to burden the monastery with their children
or relations, but such were to be removed at once.
The archbishop forbade all strife and noise in
beginning proses and chants. The canons were
forbidden after compline, for the sake of drinking, or under any pretext of unbecoming levity,
to visit guests or friends, or to go to them, except they had a necessary or useful reason for
doing so, and then only with the leave of the
president. (fn. 15) Drinking with guests or friends in
the absence of the prior was altogether prohibited.
The prior was to hear the confession of each at
least once in the year. The canons, moreover, were
not to visit the houses of nuns or other suspected
places.

In 1314 (fn. 16) Archbishop Greenfield issued a
series of injunctions as the sequel of a visitation
held on Wednesday after Trinity Sunday. The
defects in the chapter-house, dormitory, and
infirmary were to be repaired as soon as possible.
As certain of the secular servants of the house
did not show proper deference to the canons, the
prior was ordered to correct and chastise such
servants, and if any were incorrigible or rebellious, they were to be discharged.

As certain of the cellarers of the house claimed
to have a perpetuity in their office, the archbishop
ordered that no cellarer should hold office for more
than two years, and this on condition that he behaved well. If at the end of two years he was
found to have been useful and apt for his office, he
might be re-elected by the prior and five or six
of the seniors. When the prior found a cellarer
unfit for the office he was to be removed by the
prior and another appointed without delay. As
the monastery was heavily in debt, all were enjoined to strict moderation.

In 1318 (fn. 17) Archbishop Melton held a visitation
of Kirkham. He ordered Archbishop Greenfield's decretum and his own to be read weekly
every Wednesday and Friday. The injunctions
are of a general character, and the grave faults
the archbishop would deal with separately later.
They do not appear to be recorded.

On 10 November 1321 (fn. 18) John de Jarum
[or Yarm] was elected prior in succession to
Robert de Veteri Burgo, who had died on Sunday
before the feast of SS. Simon and Jude (28 October 1321). According to an entry in the
Register headed Status Domus de Kirkham, the
monastery was then in debt to the amount of
£843 15s. 9½d. of borrowed money. It was
burdened at the same date with £12 a year in
pensions, there were also twenty-two corrodies,
two of which had been sold in the time of Prior
William, four in the time of Prior John, and
sixteen in the time of Prior Robert.

The expenses of the house from the death of
Prior Robert to the installation of Prior John on
Wednesday the feast of St. Katherine (25 November) had amounted to £140 10s., which had
been borrowed. Moreover, much would have
to be bought in the way of wheat, malt, peas,
oats, as well as provender for horses, and forty
oxen for ploughing would have to be purchased
at 13s. 4d. each, and thirty horses (at 20s. each).
The total debts, in addition to the money for
the necessaries above mentioned, amounted to
£1,089 12s. 5d., besides the twenty-two corrodies, estimated at £73 6s. 8d. a year.

A memorandum is added, that in time of peace
the priory received 1,000 marks of silver annually
from its rents in Northumberland, but had
received nothing from that source for the past
seven years.

In 1331 (fn. 19) a serious charge was brought against
Prior John de Jarum that he had committed
adultery with Clemencia, wife of Thomas de
Boulton, kt. The archbishop summoned him to
appear in the cathedral church on Thursday after
the feast of Pentecost and answer the charge.
The prior duly appeared, but none of his accusers responded to the summons. The archbishop
thereupon pronounced sentence in favour of the
prior, and restored him fame pristine, as it is
expressed.

Reports of strife between the prior and canons
having reached the ears of Archbishop Thoresby
in 1353, (fn. 20) a commission of inquiry was issued on
23 August 1353.

In 1357 (fn. 21) the financial state of the house was
very bad. It owed £1,000, much the same sum
as it had owed thirty years before, and from a
letter addressed by the archbishop to the prior as
to the desolabilis status of the house, it would
appear that the only means of relieving the stress
which prevented the priory from supporting the
full number of its canons and maintaining due
hospitality, was to send some of the canons for a
time to other houses of the same order, and
licence to do this was conceded by the archbishop.

A letter from the archbishop, dated 10 April
1372, (fn. 22) refers to the case of John Strother, a
canon who, at the archbishop's recent visitation,
stated that he had been compelled by threats by
his father, William Strother, to make his profession as a canon of the house against his will.
He sought licence from the archbishop to visit
the apostolic see and obtain a release from his
vows. This the archbishop granted.

In 1380 (fn. 23) the house contained the prior and
sixteen canons. The clear income of the house
in the Valor Ecclesiasticus is reckoned at
£269 5s. 9d. (fn. 24)

Burton (fn. 25) has, in alphabetical order, a list of
the places where the priory held property. The
house was surrendered 8 December 1539 (fn. 26) by
John Kildwick and seventeen canons.

The seal, (fn. 66) used as early as 1191, is a large
vesica, 37/8 in. by 17/8 in., showing our Lord in
Majesty, with the legend:—

SIGILLVM SANCTE TRINITATIS DE CHIRCAM

The 13th-century prior's seal (fn. 67) is a vesica 27/8 in.
by ¼ in., of similar but more elaborate design,
having the prior kneeling in the base between
two water bougets. On either side of the
majesty is a water bouget between two Catherine wheels, which devices refer to Walter Espec,
the founder, who bore arms of three Catherine
wheels, and to Lord de Ros, in whose honour
the house had for arms three water bougets with
a crozier in pale over all. Of the legend there
remains:—

. . . . PRIORIS DE KIRKEHAM

Footnotes

1. Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 207. The date there
given for the foundation, 1121, appears to be too
early.

5. Dr. Atkinson rejects (Rievaulx Chartul. p. xlv)
this sum as a gross exaggeration; but when, in 1321,
the convent returned a statement of their revenues to
the archbishop, they stated that in time of peace they
were wont to receive 1,000 marks a year from their
Northumberland property alone.

7.
Rievaulx Chartul. (Surt. Soc.), 108, no. cxlix. The
date of this document, which, as shown later on, was
compiled within the lifetime of Walter Espec, must
be anterior to 1154, for he died as a monk of Rievaulx
on 15 March in that year. Ibid. 265.

9. See Rievaulx Chartul. p. xxiv. This is clear from
the clause as to the 4 carucates in Thixendale which
it is said (Rievaulx Chartul. 108} 'advocatus noster
adhuc tenet in manu sua.' In what is called the
'Secunda Fundatio' of Kirkham, Walter Espec granted
the canons 4 carucates in Thixendale, and after his
death 4 more carucates of land there (Rievaulx
Chartul. 160). These latter are those alluded to as
still in Walter Espec's possession.

43. Ibid. Greenfield, fol. 117b. In Recs. of Northern
Convocation (Surt. Soc.), 58, one 'Gerard of Burton'
is named as Prior of Kirkham, who was present at the
Provincial Council at York in 1311-12, which dealt.
with the Templars, and, it is added with a (?), 'executed
after the Northern Rebellion of 1337.' Immediately
after his name comes that of Robert Oldburg,' prior
of Kirkham,' who, it is suggested, was Prior of
Warter. There is, however, no hiatus in the list of
Priors of Kirkham about this time which could be
filled by 'Gerard of Burton.'